Packaging for storing automotive parts

ABSTRACT

The present patent of invention pertains to a packaging (E) for storing automotive parts, particularly, wheel hub, or any other parts having similar formats for automotive vehicles, made of thermo-plastic material, the main objective of which is to provide a suitable sealing system to prevent the entry of humidity and liquids inside the packaging. Additionally, said packaging (E) comprises its own specific structural characteristics that enable a reduction in material, maintaining the desired mechanical resistance. The packaging (E) comprises a suitable sealing system ( 3 ) between the body ( 1 ) and the lid ( 2 ), designed and shaped to form sealing regions ( 3 A and  3 B).

The present patent of invention pertains to a packaging for storingautomotive parts, particularly wheel hub or any other parts havingsimilar formats for automotive vehicles, said packaging being made ofthermo-plastic material, the main objective of which is to provide asuitable sealing system to prevent the entry of humidity and liquidsinside the packaging. Additionally, said packaging comprises its ownspecific characteristics, which besides providing more efficientsealing, presents a structure with better mechanical resistance to housethe parts, and to promote safe and practical stacking. Further,advantageously, the constructive form of the packaging now innovatedenables the lid to be opened and closed several times withoutcompromising its integrity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A person skilled in the art knows packagings used for storing automotiveparts, principally to protect them against external agents or contactswith other objects, and to facilitate their transport and handling,since they are automotive components made of high density materials,resulting in heavy parts, which exercise a great amount of force againstthe walls of their packagings, which must offer sufficient mechanicalresistance for safe transport and stacking thereof.

A known form of packing these automotive parts is the use of cardboardpackagings. Viewing greater protection, in some cases the parts arepreviously involved with thermo-shrinkable material, plastic films,foam, among others, before being housed in the cardboard packagings.

Disadvantageously, the need to envelop the parts with additionalprotection materials during the packaging process requires an additionalstage in the manufacturing process, which can be eliminated, as itincreases the manufacturing cost.

Notwithstanding the alternative of enveloping the parts for greaterprotection, before housing them in the cardboard packagings, today, itis most common simply to store the parts in said cardboard packagingswithout any additional protection.

Although the parts are stored without additional protection, thepackaging is made of hydrophilic material, which makes the partssusceptible to humidity, because when the cardboard absorbs humidity,consequently this humidity is transferred to the part, generatingmalfunction.

Additionally, said packagings do not offer any structural resistance forstacking, generating logistical and storage difficulties in stocking thepackaged parts, and said parts may be damaged when stacked or duringtransport.

Another disadvantage of cardboard packagings is that once they areopened for information checks on the parts contained inside them, thepackaging remains open, because of the breakage of the adhesive sealnormally used to guarantee the integrity of the parts. This procedure iscommon before they are assembled, but in many cases when the parts areexposed in stock, they become susceptible to humidity and/or drop, whichmay compromise their useful life, leading to destruction.

Additionally, due to the different environmental conditions which thesepackagings undergo during transport, many times spending months insidecontainers on ships crossing oceans, these packagings require a moreefficient sealing and one that is capable of preventing the entry ofhumidity, or even liquids, inside the packaging. Therefore,disadvantageously, this humidity can end up causing damage to the partsstored by these packagings.

Among the problems, we may cite the oxidation factor, which in manycases may reach a level of premature rooting, that is, before they areassembled and used, the parts may be oxidized due to the entry ofhumidity inside the packaging, which reduces their useful life, and mayrequire repair soon after using the vehicles due to functional problems.This factor may worsen, considering environmental conditions andtransport time, when exported by sea roots, which due to the high levelof salt-water mist causes corrosion of various metal objects.

Others examples of packagings are the bipartite packagings made ofplastic material and which basically comprise a base for housing anautomotive component, which is closed by a lid, finally, radially sealedwith an adhesive tape. However, disadvantageously, once the seal isbroken, the packaging sealing is again compromised, since the user needsto make multiple information checks on the product, this procedure beingcommon before its assembly, leaving the part susceptible to humidity,for example, and may damage or deteriorate the product, leading to itsdestruction.

Additionally, due to the different environmental conditions which thesepackagings undergo during transport, many times spending months insidecontainers on ships crossing oceans, these packagings require a moreefficient sealing and one that is capable of preventing the entry ofhumidity, or even liquids, inside the packaging. Therefore,disadvantageously, this humidity can end up causing damage to the partsstored by these packagings.

Also disadvantageously, said packaging's made of plastic material do nothave suitable sealing means and structural technical characteristics ofmechanical resistance to withstand the forces involved in stackingseveral packagings with parts housed on their inside, generatinglogistical and storage difficulties, and may cause deformations in theproduct.

Another known example of packaging is disclosed by patent document U.S.Pat. No. 5,207,345A, filed on Jul. 10, 1992, which describes a devicethat provides hermetic sealing for a recipient, such as a bucket, whosedevice consists of an adapter and a lid, and the adapter may be encasedunder pressure at the rim of the recipient, and then receive a twistlid, enabling the formation of a packaging sealed against the passage ofair. However, disadvantageously, this combination forms two sealingregions independent of each other, and requires the use of two sealingelements to promote the sealing of the packaging which should occursimultaneously. If one of the elements is not correctly positioned, thesealing will not be efficient.

Further, disadvantageously, this packaging was not designed tofacilitate its opening and closing in a practical and safe manner, asmany times as necessary, as it requires the untwisting of the lid fromthe adapter which, depending on the format and sizes of the partscontained inside the packaging, should also be removed. Additionally,the recipient does not provide good structural resistance, and cannot beused for storing heavy parts, such as automotive parts, nor is itconvenient for stacking several packagings on top of each other.

With a view to solving these drawbacks, the present invention proposes apackaging for storing automotive parts, made of thermo-plastic material,which comprises a body closed by a lid, and this packaging comprises aclosing and sealing system capable of promoting efficient sealing,preventing the humidity from entering the packaging and damaging thepart(s) stored. Additionally, the packaging presents a lid endowed withprojections, which provide greater mechanical resistance to packaging,and a body endowed with structural grooves, which enables a reduction inmaterial and, at the same time, increases the mechanical resistance ofthe packaging.

Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide apackaging endowed with a closing and sealing system disposed between thelid and the body base of the packaging, being capable of guaranteeingthe integrity of the automotive parts stored, by forming two consecutivesealing regions, besides enabling the packaging to be opened and closedas many times as needed, so as to prevent the lid of the packaging frombeing involuntarily moved, but enabling it to be opened when a user sowishes, without restriction in the number of repetitions of thisprocedure.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a packagingwith a suitable configuration so that when these packagings are stacked,an upper packaging can be encased in a lower packaging so as toguarantee greater stability for the pile, as well as withstanding themechanical efforts involved.

It is another objective of present invention to provide a packaging withlid having specific characteristics that when water accumulates in itsupper portion, no amount can seep into the packaging and damage theproduct.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide packagingshaving different sizes and a suitable configuration for a smallerdiameter packaging to be able to be housed inside a bigger diameterpackaging, whereby facilitating the storage thereof and optimizinginventory logistics.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide asustainable packaging, which being made of thermo-plastic material,significantly reduces the amount of disposable material for composingeach packaging.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In short, the present invention describes a packaging in a substantiallycylindrical shape endowed with a body closed by a lid, destined forstoring automotive parts, particularly, wheel hubs and the like, and thepackaging is endowed with a convenient sealing system designed andshaped to form connection regions between the body and the lid whichprevent the entry of humidity, or even liquids, inside the packaging soas to guarantee the integrity of the product during storage andtransport thereof.

Additionally, the packaging comprises a set of diagonal grooves disposedon the body, which enable the reduction of material, maintaining thedesired mechanical resistance.

The packaging comprises cooperative encasement means between twopackagings that enable the safe stacking and laying of two or morepackagings.

Said packaging can be made in different sizes to receive automotiveparts with varied sizes, and may also comprise sizes compatible witheach other, so as to enable the storage of one packaging inside theother, with a view to optimizing storage space.

Next there are presented schematical drawings of a particular embodimentof the invention, whose sizes and proportions are not necessarily real,since the purpose of the drawings is merely to present didactically itsdiverse aspects, whose protection coverage is determined solely by thescope of the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a packaging (E).

FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of a large size of packaging (E).

FIG. 2B illustrates a perspective view of a medium size of packaging(E).

FIG. 2C illustrates a perspective view of a small size of packaging (E).

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a packaging (E).

FIG. 3A illustrates a perspective view of a packaging (E) that has a lid(2), endowed with a substantially modified top face, forming aconstructive variation.

FIG. 4 illustrates an under perspective view of a packaging (E).

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a packaging (E).

FIG. 5A illustrates an expanded view of detail (A) of FIG. 5, showingthe closing and sealing system (3) of the packaging (E).

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As represented by the accompanying drawings, the packaging (E) comprisesa body (1), having a substantially cylindrical format, closed by a lid(2), also having a substantially cylindrical format, and the packaging(E) is endowed with a sealing system (3) of the lid (2) on the body (1),said packaging (E) being used for storing at least an automotive part(not illustrated).

The packaging (E) can be obtained by means of a blow-molding process andor by injection, in thermo-plastic material.

It will be understood that minor alterations to size or to theconfiguration can be implemented so as to enable manufacturing by any ofthe blow-molding or injection processes, considering the specificcharacteristics of each process, type of material and equipment to beused, without straying from the scope of the accompanying claims.

As illustrated by FIGS. 5 and 5A, the sealing system (3) is designed andshaped to form encasement regions that prevent the entry of humidity andliquids inside the packaging (E), in order to guarantee the integrity ofthe product during storage and transport thereof.

The sealing system (3) comprises a connection segment (3A), disposed onthe lid (2) endowed with a step (33), and a connection segment (3B)disposed on the body (1) which has an upper peripheral region (32)contacting the step (33) of the lid (2).

Both connections segments (3A and 3B) are endowed with radialprojections (30), whose formats, sizes and positioning, enable thelaying of the connection segment (3B) around the connection segment (3A)such that said radial projections (30) are pressed together, forming afirst connection region and sealing, when the body (1) is closed by thelid (2). The connection segment (3B) of the body (1) is delimited by thestep (33) when closing the lid (2), at which moment the upper peripheralregion (32) of the body (1) contacts the step (33) of the lid (2).

The distances of the radial projections (30) in relation to the step(33) of the lid (2) and the upper peripheral region (32) of the body (1)are sized so as to determine contact points between radial projections(30), and simultaneously, position the step (33) on the upper peripheralregion (32), such that said step (33) is kept pressed against the upperperipheral region (32), forming a second sealing region in the packaging(E).

When closing the lid (2) on the body (1) under pressure, the sealingsystem (3) seals the packaging (E) in an efficient manner, in at leasttwo distinct regions, that is, at least between the step (33) and theupper peripheral region (32), and between at least a radial projection(30) disposed on the connection segment (3A) and at least a radialprojection (30) disposed on the connection segment (3B). Accordingly,two consecutive sealing regions are formed, and either one is capable ofpreventing the passage of air or humidity.

Optionally, said upper peripheral region (32) of the body (1) comprisesa tab (32′) which projects from the upper end of the body (1), so as toprovide a bigger area contacting the step (33) of the lid (2), whichadvantageously prevents entry of humidity and liquids inside thepackaging (E) with greater efficiency.

In an example of embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated inFIG. 5A, the connection segment (3A) comprises at least two radialprojections (30), which provide greater structural resistance andconsequently, greater rigidity so as to prevent deformations of theconnection region, keeping the contact under pressure between the radialprojections (30), and at the same time keeping the step (33) pressedagainst the upper peripheral region (32). Therefore, said sealing system(3) also prevents involuntary opening of the lid (2) when transportingor handling the packaging (E) for replacement or sale.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 3A, the lid (2) comprises a radial edge (22), astep (23) and projections (21) which continuously stand out from thethickness of the top face (20) and are interconnected with the radialedge (22) delimited by the step (23). Preferably, the projections (21)are positioned in parallel to each other on the top face (20).

Advantageously, both said projections (21) and the radial edge (22) andstep (23), confer greater mechanical and structural resistance to thelid (2), enabling it to withstand the mechanical forces involved whenstacking two or more packagings (E). Regarding structure, the step (23)can be configured as a radial rib that provides greater rigidity to thetop face (20), a fact that does not cede to bending or pressure uponstacking.

To promote the stacking of packagings (E), the lower region of the body(1), as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, comprises a ring projection (12) and aperipheral region (11) agreeing with the radial edge (22) of the lid(2), whereas the step (23) of the lid (2) encases with the ringprojection (12) disposed in the lower region of the body (1).

Optionally, the radial edge (22) of the lid (2) comprises a widened andsubstantially domed perimeter area so as to provide a bigger contactarea between said radial edge (22) and peripheral region (11) of thebody (1) when stacking two or more packagings (E).

Therefore, the stacking of two or more packagings (E) is defined fromthe cooperating encasement between the radial edge (22), disposed on thetop (20) of the lid (2) and a peripheral region (11) disposed on thelower face of the body (1), whereas the ring projection (12) is encasedon the step (23) of the lid (2). Advantageously, this encasement systemenables safe stacking and laying, guaranteeing greater stability of twoor more packagings (E).

Also as illustrated by FIGS. 3, 3A and 5, the lid (2), preferably, isconfigured and designed to have an external dimension (De) minimallybigger that the external dimension (de) of the body (1). Therefore, whenliquids accumulate on the lid (2), it prevents seepage of the liquidinside the packaging (E), and the liquid flows through the sides of thelid (2) by dripping, guaranteeing the integrity of the part inside thepackaging (E).

As better illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 4, said packaging comprises a setof diagonal grooves (4), distributed interspersed, which helps breakdown the molecules of the structure of the body (1), enabling areduction in its thickness and the material necessary for manufacturing,maintaining the desired mechanical resistance of the set.

However, it will be understood that the diagonal grooves (4) can bedisposed along any region of the side face (10) of the body (1), withoutcompromising the structural mechanical properties and without strayingfrom the scope of protection of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the packaging (E) is configured andmanufactured in different sizes (S, M or L), compatible with each other,enabling the housing the automotive parts having varied sizes and alsohousing one empty packaging inside the other, for example, a packaging(G), may receive a packaging (M) and so on and so forth, whichadvantageously enables greater optimization of storage space of thesepackagings (E).

A person skilled in the art will readily perceive from the descriptionand from the drawings represented, various ways of carrying out theinvention without straying from the scope of the accompanying claims.

1. PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, the packaging (E) beingendowed with a body (1) closed by a lid (2), characterized by comprisinga sealing system (3) formed by the combination of a connection segment(3A), endowed with at least a radial projection (30) and disposed on thelid (2) which is endowed with a step (33), with a connection segment(3B), endowed with at least a radial projection (30) and an upperperipheral region (32) contacting the step (33) of the lid (2); theradial projections (30) of the connection segments (3A and 3B) havinggeometries that agree with each other, being positioned and encasedunder pressure, simultaneously, when positioning the upper peripheralregion (32) of the body (1) on the step (33) of the lid (2). 2.PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, as claimed in claim 1,characterized by the upper peripheral region (32) of the body (1)comprises a tab (32′) contacting the step (33) of the lid (2), whichprojects from the upper end of the body (1).
 3. PACKAGING FOR STORINGAUTOMOTIVE PARTS, as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the lid (2)comprises projections (21) disposed on a top face (20) of the lid (2),wherein the projections (21) stand out continuously from the thicknessof the top face (20) and are interconnected with a radial edge (22)delimited by a step (23).
 4. PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, asclaimed in claim 1, characterized by the projections (21) beingpositioned parallel to each other.
 5. PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVEPARTS, as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the stacking is carriedout based on the cooperative encasement between the radial edge (22) ofthe lid (2) and a lower peripheral region (11) of the body (1), andthere occurs simultaneously the encasement of a lower ring projection(12) of the body (1) on the step (23) of the lid (2).
 6. PACKAGING FORSTORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, as claimed in claim 1, characterized by theradial edge (22) of the lid (2) comprises a widened and substantiallydomed perimeter area so as to provide a bigger contact area between saidradial edge (22) and peripheral region (11) of the body (1). 7.PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, as claimed in claim 1,characterized by the body (1) comprises a set of diagonal grooves (4)distributed interspersed.
 8. PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, asclaimed in claim 1, characterized by the lid (2) comprise an externaldimension (De) minimally bigger than the external size (de) of the body(1).
 9. PACKAGING FOR STORING AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, as claimed in claim 1,characterized by being configured and manufactured in different sizes(S, M or L) and are compatible with each other.